Self-propelled vehicle.



' No. 889,679. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908. c. B. HATFIELD. :SELP PROPELLED VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED JAN-26, 1907- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

57747/WFY I I I I l l I I l I I PATENT ED JUNE 2,, 1908.

O. B. HATFIELD.

SELF PROPBLLED VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26-, 1907.

3 SH EETSSHEET 2.

WWW/147V PATENTBD JUNE 2, 1903.

G. B. HATFIELD. v I SELF PROPEIJLED VEHICLE.

v APPLIOIATION FILED JAN. 26, 1907.

' a .snEnTs-snnmr s.

UNITED sTATEs. P TENT. OFFICE.

CHARLES B. H TFIELD, OE OORTLAND,'NEW YORK, AssIeNoR T HATFIELD MOTOR VEHICLE COMPANY, OF CORTLAND, NEw YORK, A' CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SELF PROPELLED VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Application filed January 26, 1907. Serial No. 854,308.

To all whom it may concern: Y Y

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. HATFIELD,

of Cortland, in the county of Cortland, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Self-Propelled Vehicles, of which the following, taken in con nection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in self-propelled vehicles-in Whichone or more liquid hydro-carbon enginesof the compression type are employed as the motive.

power and refers more particularly to the mechanism for transmitting motion from the motor to one or more traction wheels of the running gear.

Heretofore the. use of hydro-carbon engines as a motive power for vehicles has always implied the use of some form of clutch or disconnecting device wherebythe engine could be operated independently of the trac- I tion wheels or intermediate power transmitting mechanism-but in my present invention I have sought to accomplish the'same en'ds without at any time disconnecting the motor from the traction wheels or mother words I i have sought to provide asimple, practical and A further object is to efficient variable speed-reverse-drive mechamsm by which I am enabled to maintain a permanent connection between the driving and driven elements, thereby avoiding the use of What is commonly known as a clutch or disconnecting device.

and power transmitting mechanism connectingit to the traction wheels in such manner as to reduce the number of parts of the driving mechanism to a minimum and at the same time to avoid, as far as practical, excessive vibration of the vehicle While the-engine is in action.

' t Other objects and uses relating to the proelling mechanism will be brought out in the ollowing description. In the drawings,Figure 1 is a side elevamy various. improvements, at part of the body being broken away to show the various mechanisms mounted thereon.

tion of the friction driving and driven ele-.

dispose the motors Patented June 2, 190a.

.ments and the adjacent portions of their supporting shafts. Fig. 4 is aside view of the friction driving and driven elements as seen in Fig. 3. Fig. dis) a further enlarged sectional view of what will' be hereafter termed the floating restwhich is' located in the center of the friction driving disks. Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66, Fig. 5.

The friction driving and driven disks herein illustrated and described are quite similar to those shownin my pending application No.. 308,045, filed March 26, 1906, and allowed September 22, 1906, but in that case the device was claimed in the general class of friction gearing without attempting to show its specific application to self-propelled vehicles'as in my present application and I,

therefore, Wish to emphasize the limitations in the present case of such friction driving mechanism to self-propelled vehicles as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings, articular-1y Figs. 1 and 2, I have showna d uble hydro-carbon gas engine as mountedtransversely upon orwithin the body 1 of a vehicle and preferably beneath the seat as 2 said-engine being providedwith opposed cylinders 3. which are connected to a common crank ease -4- containing an ordinary crank shaft 5.

This transverse arrangement of the double cylinder engine. brin s the crank shaft5 substantially centra and lengthwise of the body 1- and preferably to the rear end of this shaft is rig dly secured. a friction driving disk 6 havinga substantially fiat friction face at right angles to its axis of ro-. tation.- 1

Directly at the rear of the friction driving (lisk- --6-.and upon the bod y of the vehicle is rotatingly mounted a. transverse shaft '7 having feathered thereon a friction driven disk 8,.- which engages the friction face of the disk 6 and is movable axially of itself and radially to and from the center of the disk 6 and at opposite sides of the axis of the latter to permit the vehicle to be Anysuitable means may be em loyed for shifting the driven disk 8- artist ly and for this purpose I have shown a bell crank lever 9-- as pivoted at-10 to the under side v of the body 1, one of the arms of said bell crank being connected to a grooved hub 1 l of the disk 8- while the other arm of said lever is connected by a link ,12 to an perating lever "13-, the latter being located at the right of and in close proximity to the seat of the vehicle where it is within easy reaching distance of the operator. It

is evident, however, that any other equivalentmechanism may be employed for sl1ift ing the disk 8 axially across the face of the disk 6, the essential purpose being to arrange the shaft parallel with the friction face of the disk 6 so that the disk 8 will always maintain contact therewith when traversing its face for differential speeds and in a separate annular support 15- car rying an annular series of interposed antifriction balls 16 near the outer edges of the rest 14 to revent excessive torsional strains upon sald rest as the disk '-8 is moved transversely thereof, said annuiar series of balls also serving to keep the friction face of the floating-rest 14 substantially coincident with the friction face of the disk 6 so that theremay be no obstructions to the free transposition of the disk '8 across the face of the driving disk.

The support 15- contains aloose annulus 1 7 forming with the outer flanges of the sup )ort -16 an annular race-way for the ba s and serving to retain the latter in lace against inward'displacement.

he floating rest 14 and its support 15 are preferably made of hardened metal to constitute a more efficient bearing for the balls 16 the support 15 being locked from independent rotation to the disk -6 by means of screw keys or pins -18 as best seen in Figs. 3, 5 and 6.

In order that the floating rest 14 may be held against outward axial displacement when the driven disk 8 is out or contact therewith, I provide said floating rest with'a central hub 19-' which projects'through a central opening -20 in the support 1'5 and is provided with a transverse aperture for receiving a locking pin or key 21- at the inner side of the o ening 20--, said key servingrto hold the oating rest against "outward displacement and at the sametime permits the free rotation of the disk 6 and support 15 independently of the floating rest 14.

I have now fully described the means for transmitting motion from the crankshaft of the engine to the shaft 7 and it is evident thatby shifting the disk 8 radially of the disk -*6 toward and from the center the shaft 7 will be rotated with variable speeds and when the disk 8 is brought to the center to rest upon the loose or floating rest .14 the crank shaft may continue to revolve without transmitting rotary motion to the disk 8 thereby leaving the shaft 7- and traction wheels connected thereto at rest.

The shaft 7 is connected to one or both, in this instance both of the rear traction wheels 22 through the medium of one or more, in this instance two, s rocket chains -23 which are connecter .to s rocket wlieels--24-- on'the shaft 7 am to additional somewhat larger sprocket wheels 25' on inwardly projecting hubs 26- of the traction wheels 2.

Secured to the front end ofthe crank shaft -5' of the engine is a-sprocket wheel 27 which is connected by a chain 28 to an additional sprocket wheel 29- journaled in suitable bearings on the body of the vehicle and having a clutch section 30- to which may be connected a crank clutch'section 31 adapted to be operated by hand for starting the engine, it being understood, of course, that when the engine is stopped, ready for starting, the friction driven disk 8 bears against the center floating rest 14 so as to relieve the engine from any external load.

The front axle as 32 is provided with steering wheels 33- and is centrally pivoted at 34 midway between its ends to permit the axle to be turned in steering the vehicle. e

' Any suitable steering mechanism may be employed in connection with the driving mechanism forming the subject matter of this invention, and for this purpose I have shown a segment 35 as secured to the axle $32 concentric with the pivot 34-, said segment being provided with a periph-' eral groove '3 6 m which is seated the greater portion of a chain 37 said chain being engaged by a sprocket wheel 39- on' in a subsequent application, the only purpose,

" in illustrating it being to showa complete 'eflected without disconnectin operative device. I

In the o eration of my present invention, assuming t at the friction disk 8- is normally enga ed with the floating rest of the drivin is 6-,' the engine may be starte through the medium of the crank clutch 31 and sprocket chain 28 whereupon the crank clutch is automatically disconnected in any well known manner and the driven disk 8 may then be shifted in either direction by means of the lever 9, link 12 and hand lever '-1-3 15 transversely from the center of the disk '6 according toithe direction in which it is desired to propel the vehicle thereby transmittin motion to the shaft 7 and trac- -tion w lieels f-Z-through the medium of the sprocket chains 23-. The stopping and starting ofthe traction wheels is thereby the driven\ disk 8 from the driving dis -6-- that is the driven disk 8-'maintains a permanent connection with the driving disk 6- during the sto ping, starting and reversedrive of the veh cle, which is the essential feature of my present invention. Otherwise the invention is described in such full, clear and exact terms as to enable any one skilled in the art to construct and operate the'same- 7 What I claim is:-

In a self-propelled vehicle, a body and a running gear havinga traction wheel, a liquid hydro-carbon engine mounted on the body" of the vehicle and provided with op osed cylinders arranged transversely of-the 'od'y, said engine having a crank shaft extending lengthwise of'the body, a friction disk secured directly't'o the crank shaft and pro- 'vided with acentral floating rest concentric with its axis, the friction face of the floating rest being coincident with the remaining or-' a diametric line across the face of the driving disk, and means for transmitting. motion from the shaft to the traction-wheel.

In witness whereof I have hereuntoset my handthisSdda of December 1906;

C ARLES B. HATFIELD. Witnesses: i v H. E. CHASE, Hownnn P. DENISON. 

